2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

If you’re thinking SE-R, forget it. If you’re thinking economical daily driver, you’re on the right track. There’s nothing compelling about the 2013 Nissan Sentra from an enthusiast’s perspective, but for the average compact car buyer who, according to one Nissan executive, wants “value, fuel economy, reliability and adequate dynamics,” it’s a solid bet.

“Adequate dynamics” really says it all. As we found in our two most recent compact car comparisons, it’s not a class of sports cars. Some handle well, while others such the new Sentra focus on convenience and usability instead, areas where it hits the mark. Nissan claims best-in-class interior space, and the Sentra certainly feels roomier than a compact should. The rear seat in particular is massive for a car in this class. The trunk is equally huge. If there are faults, they’re in the front seats. Granted, I have short legs, but the short telescoping range in the steering wheel had me sitting way up on the pedals to get close enough to the wheel. The seat bottom cushions are pretty thin and wear you out on longer trips, though the backrests are comfortable. There’s also the matter of the front passenger seat, which is not height-adjustable and sits very high, making it feel like your head’s in the ceiling. Making that worse is a headliner that looks and feels like cardboard coated with lint.

Those gripes aside, the Sentra’s interior is a nice place to spend some time. The materials are top-notch for the class, and the design, like the exterior, is clean, if inoffensive. Ergonomics are solid, with all the controls logically laid out and easy to reach. That praise extends to the optional NissanConnect navigation system, which is intuitive and easy to use. Nissan’s done a commendable job of simplifying the functions, making things like inputting an address or connecting a phone via Bluetooth quick and easy.

While the Sentra stands up on user friendliness, it falls down on performance. Our CVT-equipped test car needed a laborious 9.6 seconds to reach 60 mph, making it the second-slowest car in its class, just barely ahead of the ancient and soon-to-be-replaced Corolla. As you’d expect, it was also one of the slowest cars in its class around our figure-eight course, and pulled one of the lowest average g numbers in the process, again sharing company with the Corolla and joined by the Jetta diesel. The Sentra did better on the simple skidpad and in the braking test, finishing mid-pack in its competitive set.

Much of this can be attributed to its anemic 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, a slightly up-sized version engine found in the smaller Versa. At 130 horsepower and 128 lb-ft of torque, it just edges out the Corolla as the least-powerful car in its class. On the upside, it’s on the lighter side of the class as well, but the tradeoff isn’t as good as it sounds. In Normal mode, the Sentra keeps up with traffic, but you’ll be deep in the throttle to do it. Eco, as you might expect, makes that even more difficult. From behind the wheel, it’s hard to believe you’ll get the advertised fuel economy when you’re standing on it this hard just to keep up with traffic. Sport mode, in all-too-typical Nissan fashion, cranks the throttle sensitivity up to 11 and keeps the CVT in lower ratios. The result is that the slightest touch of the pedal makes the car jerk forward like a truck in 4-Lo, which makes you want to back off, in which case it lurches forward as acceleration suddenly ceases. The payoff is that if you stay in the throttle, the Sentra certainly feels faster in Sport, whether it is or isn’t.

The transmission is an improvement over Nissan’s earlier continuously variable affairs, but it still has an elastic-y feel to it. The engine winds up and makes a lot of noise, but all the ratios in the world won’t make it accelerate any faster, particularly uphill with more than one person in the car. If you’re expecting the SR sport model to fix any of that, you’ll be disappointed to learn that the only performance feature it adds is rear disc brakes, which are otherwise available only with the leather seat option. (Don’t ask me why.) SR is otherwise an appearance package.

The story is only marginally better in the suspension. The car rides nicely enough and the damping is generally good, though it gives up on the worst bumps and sends them straight to the cabin. Handling, as the man said, is adequate at best. The body is not well-controlled and the car flops over in turns. It clearly doesn’t enjoy cornering and would very much prefer to be driven in straight lines. That’s great if you live in the city, but less so if you’re commuting in from the countryside. The steering, at least, is nicely weighted, but unsurprisingly, transmits no information from the road. Not that there’s much need for it. From a dynamic standpoint, the brakes were the highlight in that they were perfectly acceptable.

The upshot to all this is that the Sentra is rated at 34 mpg combined. That’s 30 mpg in the city and 39 mpg on the highway, or a solid 40 mpg if you get the optional FE+ package. Package or not, that’s on the top end of the class for city fuel economy and right on par with the competition for highway efficiency. Throw in pricing that leans towards the lower end of the class, and you’ve got a pretty solid value proposition.

Adequate, then, is the right word for this car. It gets you from point to point and does so pretty efficiently. It’s not exciting to look at or to drive, but it’s not trying to be. It’s easy to drive and live with, and if you’re looking for a good commuter car, you’re in the right place. Just don’t compare it to that Sentra SE-R Spec V you had back in college.

2013 Nissan Sentra SL

BASE PRICE

$16,770

PRICE AS TESTED

$23,420

VEHICLE LAYOUT

Front engine, FWD, 5-pass, 4-door sedan

ENGINE

1.8L/130-hp/128-lb-ft DOHC 16-valve I-4

TRANSMISSION

Cont. variable auto

CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)

2890 lb (59/41%)

WHEELBASE

106.3 in

LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT

182.1 x 69.3 x 58.9 in

0-60 MPH

9.6 sec

QUARTER MILE

17.3 sec @ 81.0 mph

BRAKING, 60-0 MPH

122 ft

LATERAL ACCELERATION

0.81 g (avg)

MT FIGURE EIGHT

28.7 sec @ 0.57 g (avg)

EPA CITY/HWY FUEL ECON

30/39 mpg

ENERGY CONS., CITY/HWY

112/86 kW-hrs/100 miles

CO2 EMISSIONS

0.58 lb/mile

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